| Apostle |
means
"messenger", an original follower personally taught by Jesus |
| Atonement |
the act
performed by Jesus that makes possible our salvation and
reconciliation with God |
| Baptism |
An
immersion or sprinkling of water which identifies a believer with
Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection |
| Believer |
one who
has true saving faith in Jesus, thus is saved and possesses Eternal
Life |
| Bible |
from the
Greek biblos meaning "book". the Holy book of
Christians and Jews, recorded by Holy men of God as inspired by the
Holy Spirit |
| Biblical
Authority |
the right,
by virtue of the author's identity and position, to command our
respect and obedience. Its accuracy has been established and
consequentially can be totally trusted. |
| Christ |
title of
Jesus meaning "Messiah" or "annointed one" |
| Christians |
followers
and believers in Christ as his or her personal Savior |
| Covenant |
an
agreement between God and man, initiated by God, and containing
blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience |
| Church |
two
meanings - a local group of worshipers; the Biblical meaning
is the entire number of true believers (past, present and future) |
| Cross |
instrument
of execution used by the Romans in Jesus' day; see Crucify |
| Crucify |
method by
which Jesus died for our sins; see
Crucify |
| Death |
used in
three contexts - the end of our physical life on earth; our
spiritual state prior to salvation; eternal
separation of the lost from God due to sin (sometimes referred to as
the second death) |
| Disciple |
a student
or follower of Jesus |
| Doctrine |
set of
beliefs that define and are taught by a religious system |
| Eternal
Life |
state of a
believer, both now (in the sense that we are saved) and future |
| Exegesis |
study to
determine the original context and meaning of a scripture |
| Faith |
strong
belief, trust or confidence given to us by God's grace |
| Gentiles |
those not
of the natural Jewish race |
|
Glorification |
last stage
of Salvation in which believers |
| God |
the
supreme being, creator of the universe; Christians worship a
triune God - God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy
Spirit; see "Trinity" |
| Gospel |
the
supreme being, creator of the universe; Christians worship a
triune God - God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy
Spirit; see "Trinity" |
| Grace |
unmerited
favor and benefit from God |
| Heaven |
dwelling
place of God; the Bible does not reveal a location |
| Hell |
place of
eternal punishment for the lost, eternally separated from God |
| Heresy |
false or
incomplete teaching |
|
Hermeneutics |
the study
of how we study the Bible; also how the Scriptures relate to our own
days |
| Holy |
sacred,
spiritually pure; set apart for special service to God |
| Holy
Spirit |
third
person of the Godhead (Trinity), Author of the Bible, indwells,
empowers and gifts the believer for service in the Church. As
the divine helper, assistant, counselor and instructor, His work is
to reveal Christ, convict of sin, lead to repentance, and to
comfort, strengthen, guide and sanctify believers for godly living.
|
|
Incarnation |
act of
Jesus taking on a human nature at His birth |
| Inerrancy |
the
principle that the Bible's original manuscripts, when properly
interpreted, is without error in all that it affirms, to the degree
of accuracy intended |
|
Inspiration |
the divine
influence of the Holy Spirit upon the human writers which resulted
in the Inerrancy of the Bible |
| Jesus |
the
God-Man, fully human, fully God; second person of the Trinity; son
of God; our Savior, the Messiah, the final judge |
| Jews |
God's
chosen people, natural descendants of Israel |
|
Justification |
act by the
Grace of God declaring a believer "not guilty" and imputing the
righteousness of Christ to the believer through our faith in the
work of Christ on the Cross |
|
Knowledge |
the understanding of a subject, along
with the ability to use it for a specific purpose; true
Biblical knowledge takes root in the heart as well as the mind |
| Mercy |
act of God
forgiving us rather than administering the justice that we deserve |
| Messiah |
same as
"Christ"; Messiah comes from the Hebrew (language of the OT), Christ from the Greek
(language of the NT) |
| Miracle |
supernatural event; usually unexplainable by the laws of nature |
| Mystery |
a term
used by Paul to denote an eternal truth, which was obscure in the
OT, that has no been made clear - usually by Christ |
|
Omnipotence |
attribute
of triune God alone; has all power over creation, can do all things
but does nothing contrary with his Holy Nature |
|
Omnipresence |
attribute
of triune God alone; all present, not bound by time or space |
|
Omniscience |
attribute
of triune God alone; having all knowledge |
| Original
Sin |
the
original sin of Adam (Gen 3) and its effect on his descendents; see
Sin |
| Parable |
a short illustrative story that teaches
a moral or religious lesson |
| Passover |
annual Jewish holiday celebrating their
escape from Egyptian bondage and sparing of their first-born
children when the Angel of Death "passed over" the Hebrew homes and
killed the first-born children in the Egyptian homes (Ex 12) |
| Pentecost |
celebration of the fiftieth day after
Passover; arrival of the Holy Spirit at the birth of the Church
(Acts 2) |
| Prayer |
communication with God; man offers up
praise, requests, confessions, thanksgiving etc and should be
attentive to His response |
| Rapture |
the snatching away of believers at some
point before, during, or at the second coming of Jesus Christ. (1
Thess 4:16-17) |
| Reconciliation |
act by which God, by the work of Jesus,
"makes peace" with us, no longer counting our sins against us (2Cor
5:19-21) |
| Regeneration |
act by which God the Holy Spirit
creates a change in our spiritual nature; a new birth |
| Religion |
a system of man's beliefs in an attempt
to understand spiritual things; can be true or false |
| Repentance |
a genuine sorrow of man for his sin;
involves both a change of mind and direction |
| Righteous |
morally pure and just |
| Salvation |
saving of a person's soul from the
righteous judgment of God; Salvation involves Regeneration,
Repentance, Justification, Sanctification and Glorification |
| Sanctification |
ongoing process by which believers are
made more holy and pure (more like Jesus) |
| Scripture |
the Bible |
| Sin |
the violation of God's law or will by
thought, deed, word or omission |
| Sovereignty |
God's right and ability to exercise
power and control over His creation. |
| Testament |
a contract (covenant) made between two
parties and ratified by certain actions |
| Theology |
the study of God and religious doctrine |
| Trinity |
the unity of God the father, God the
Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit into one Godhead; They are three
distinct co-eternal persons with one indivisible divine nature |
| Wisdom |
the ability to correctly use knowledge
to discern truth and exercise good judgment |
| Worldview |
presuppositions that influence your
outlook on life; a Biblical worldview filters all incoming
data through the Word of God |